Press Release 05/10/2017

Industrial activity in the Basque Country rose by 5.1% in August 2017

The Industrial Production Index saw a growth of 2.5% in the first eight months of 2017

The Industrial production of the Basque Country in August 2017 was up by 5.1% compared to the same month of 2016, in homogenous terms of the working calendar, according to Eustat data. The balance for the first eight months of 2017 saw growth of 2.5% on the same period of 2016.

Compared to the previous month, July 2017, the industrial production of the Basque Country rose by 5.5%, once seasonal effects had been corrected.

There were different performances in the index of the major industrial sectors in August 2017 compared to August 2016. Energy rose by 16.0%, Intermediate Goods were up by 9.9% and Consumer Goods as a whole increased by 1.9%. Within these, Consumer Durables, which were up 14.8%, determined the rate of growth, as Consumer Non-Durables were down 0.9%. In contrast, in the major industrial sectors, Capital Goods were the only ones to drop, with a fall of 5.1%.

The month-on-month variation from August 2017 on July 2017 was negative only for Energy, which was down by 1.9%. The sales index of Intermediate Goods rose by 6.3% compared to July, Capital Goods were up 5.8% and Consumer Goods as a whole advanced by 3.7%. Within these Consumer Durables went up by 5.6% and Consumer Non-durables rose by 2.8%.

Among the largest sectors in Basque industry, those that saw the most significant growth in the month of August 2017 with regards to year-on-year variations, were: Plastic & Rubber, which grew by 17.8%, Electricity, Gas & Steam, which increased by 16.5% and Metallurgy & Metal Products, which went up by 10.7%. On the other hand, the largest decreases occurred in the Transport Materialsector, which fell by 9.8%, Electrical Material & Equipment, which was down by 5.2%, andTimber paper and graphic arts, which dropped by 3.3%.

By province, the year-on-year performance of the Industrial Production Index for the month of August showed an upward trend in all three: it rose by 5.6% in Bizkaia, by 5.2% in Gipuzkoa and 4.2% in Álava.